Chapter Summaries

Six years after Neji Hyuga began advising Akatsuki and selling Flesh-Repair Pills, he graduated from the Ninja Academy as the Hyuga Main Family’s power over its Branch Family collapsed. Hiruzen Sarutobi delayed the Uchiha Clan massacre by a year, but Itachi Uchiha, Obito, and Danzo Shimura’s Root ultimately destroyed the clan, leaving Sasuke Uchiha as its sole survivor.

• Neji Hyuga’s documents helped Akatsuki train grassroots managers in Amegakure, while Hiruzen Sarutobi’s expedition to Mountains' Graveyard encountered Obito and uncovered Madara Uchiha’s underground base.
• The Hyuga Main Family tried to seize Neji Hyuga’s pill formula, but his followers killed the Third and Fourth Main Family Elders; Neji also defeated Hiashi Hyuga when Hiashi tried to place him under the Caged Bird Seal.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed that Madara Uchiha and Obito had caused the Nine-Tails’ attack, redirecting the Uchiha Clan’s anger toward them without returning the clan’s former territory or granting it influence.
• After the Uchiha Clan’s discontent intensified, Itachi Uchiha, Obito, and Danzo Shimura’s Root launched a massacre in the Uchiha compound.
• Itachi Uchiha used Susanoo to leave Sasuke Uchiha behind and escaped Konoha with Obito, leaving Sasuke as the Uchiha Clan’s only survivor.

Neji Hyuga, Tenten, Rock Lee, and the rest of Class A graduated from the Ninja Academy and became Genin. As Neji revealed that his six-year Life Return had finished, he left Tenten wondering what would happen next.

• Neji Hyuga passed the Clone Technique exam and received his Genin forehead protector from Hiruzen Sarutobi, who worried about Neji’s mysterious past and influence.
• Tenten also graduated, while Hiruzen Sarutobi considered using her marriage and team placement to weaken Neji’s support but chose not to provoke him.
• Every student in Class A graduated, and Bunta Yamano dismissed them after urging them to register and return in two days for team assignments.
• Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee said goodbye to Bunta Yamano and left the classroom together.
• Tenten suggested they train together after graduation, but Neji Hyuga declined and said his Life Return had completed; he promised she would learn what that meant when teams were assigned.

Neji Hyuga completed Life Return, restoring his body and becoming extremely difficult to kill, then experimented with Nature Energy and discovered that an imbalance with Chakra turned his hand into pig iron. He left the experiment with a clear theory for producing Sage Energy by balancing physical energy, spiritual energy, and Nature Energy equally.

• Neji Hyuga completed Life Return and transformed from a skeletal figure into a healthy, handsome young man.
• Neji Hyuga replenished his reserves with Advanced Flesh-Repair Pills and considered the profits funding his training and Akatsuki’s work in Amegakure.
• Neji Hyuga absorbed Nature Energy and watched his right hand turn into immobile pig iron as it clashed with the Chakra in his body.
• Neji Hyuga severed the transformed hand, regenerated it without bleeding, and concluded that Sage Energy required a 1:1:1 balance of physical energy, spiritual energy, and Nature Energy.

Hyuga Neji returned to Class A after mastering Life Return, restored to a strikingly handsome appearance. His classmates were stunned, and the teasing about his relationship with Tenten erupted anew.

• Tenten complained that Neji had been absent, while Rock Lee said Neji had been training to master Life Return.
• Class A students teased Tenten about being in love with Neji, and the boys argued that they would challenge him to win her over.
• Hyuga Neji entered the classroom looking transformed, leaving the students speechless.
• Tenten asked Neji how he had changed, and he explained that mastering Life Return had restored his original appearance.
• The students reversed their opinions about Tenten and Neji, and Teacher Bunta Yamano arrived to quiet the uproar.

Neji Hyuga joined Might Guy's Class Three with Rock Lee and Tenten after restoring his original appearance. After Guy set a month of D-rank missions before a team battle test, Neji and Tenten left together while Guy and Lee kept running.

• Bunta Yamano was shocked by Neji Hyuga's restored appearance as he explained that the genin would be assigned to three-person teams.
• Might Guy gathered Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee as Class Three and was startled by Neji's new appearance.
• Might Guy proposed that the team wear matching green bodysuits, but Tenten rejected the idea and made Guy and Lee apologize to a family after they crashed through its roof.
• Might Guy explained that Class Three would complete D-rank missions for a month before he tested their teamwork for approval to take C-rank missions and above.
• Might Guy led the team on a run around Konoha, then he and Rock Lee continued running while Neji and Tenten stopped.
• Tenten worried that Neji's handsome appearance had changed their relationship, but Neji called her to catch up and cook, reassuring her that nothing had changed.

Tenten and Rock Lee fought Might Guy in a training match, with Tenten using Flying Thunder God and a coordinated weapons strategy to challenge him. Might Guy opened six gates, disrupted Tenten’s trap, and chased her as Neji Hyuga stepped in to take over.

• Tenten grew angry when Rock Lee ignored their planned strategy and charged Might Guy alone, so she joined the fight with a barrage of ninja tools.
• Tenten used Flying Thunder God and Monster Strength to surprise Might Guy, while Rock Lee followed her tactic and held him off.
• Might Guy opened five gates, but Tenten and Rock Lee worked together with marked weapons to keep him from defeating them quickly.
• Might Guy swept away Tenten’s weapons and battered Rock Lee until he hung from a tree, while Tenten fled using Flying Thunder God.
• Tenten lured Might Guy into a trap, but he opened the sixth gate and disrupted her Flying Thunder God formation before pursuing her.
• Neji Hyuga entered the battlefield and offered to handle Might Guy.

Neji Hyuga and Might Guy fought a blisteringly fast taijutsu spar, with Neji using his steel-body technique to calmly withstand Guy’s relentless attacks. Their clashes shook Training Ground Seven and drew the attention of nearby ninjas.

• Might Guy challenged Neji Hyuga to a spar after Neji completed his Life Return training, and Neji asked Tenten to move Rock Lee farther away.
• Tenten used Flying Thunder God to take Rock Lee to safety as Neji and Might Guy began fighting at tremendous speed.
• Neji turned his hand into steel to block Might Guy’s kick and explained that his technique was a steel body refined from Iron Body, not Steel Release.
• Might Guy unleashed Morning Peacock and a succession of taijutsu attacks, but Neji calmly deflected them with his steel palms.
• Tenten and Rock Lee watched in shock as their clashes sent deafening shockwaves through the training ground.
• The noise alerted nearby ninjas, who rushed toward Training Ground Seven.

The hammering at Training Ground Seven drew Konoha’s ninjas and leaders to investigate, where Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Neji Hyuga calmly defend against Might Guy with metallic hands. The sight brought Danzo Shimura’s fear of Neji rushing back as Hiruzen wondered how to secure Neji’s service to Konoha.

• Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and other ninjas headed toward Training Ground Seven after hearing loud, continuous hammering.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi sent an Anbu ninja to investigate, then used the Telescope Technique to examine the training ground.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Neji Hyuga block Might Guy’s attacks with hands transformed into bright metallic steel and wondered if Neji had a Kekkei Genkai.
• Danzo Shimura trembled at the sight of Neji Hyuga, recalling how Neji had defeated him, taken his Mangekyō Sharingan, and become his nightmare.

Neji Hyuga's strength astonished Konoha's senior ninja and Jonin as he fought Might Guy, who escalated from the Sixth Gate to the Seventh. The chapter ended with Guy launching Daytime Tiger and Neji bracing himself with Iron Body to test his strength.

• Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado recognized Neji Hyuga and grew concerned after seeing him withstand Might Guy's Sixth Gate.
• Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma, and Kakashi Hatake watched Neji hold his own, and Kakashi said Neji's talent surpassed his own.
• Might Guy, exhilarated that Neji remained unharmed, opened the Seventh Gate despite Kakashi Hatake's alarm.
• Might Guy attacked Neji Hyuga with Daytime Tiger, while Neji planted his feet and activated Iron Body.

Might Guy struck Neji Hyuga with the Seventh Gate’s Daytime Tiger, devastating Training Ground Seven, but Neji’s Iron Body emerged unharmed. The onlookers marveled at Neji’s resilience, while Kakashi Hatake reminded Guy that he would have to explain the destruction to the Hokage.

• Might Guy’s Daytime Tiger struck Neji’s Iron Body, creating a shockwave that sent Tenten and Rock Lee flying and wrecked Training Ground Seven.
• Tenten used the Flying Thunder God to reach a distant rooftop with Rock Lee, while Kakashi Hatake and the other spectators weathered the blast.
• The dust cleared to reveal Neji unharmed, and Might Guy praised the strength of his Iron Body.
• Neji said Guy had not used his full strength and explained that his Iron Body could withstand the Seventh Gate’s Daytime Tiger.
• Anko Mitarashi and the other ninja approached, and some of them admired Neji’s physique.
• Kakashi Hatake told Might Guy to prepare to explain the ruined Training Ground Seven to the Hokage, leaving Guy stunned.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha leaders watched Neji Hyuga withstand Might Guy’s Seventh Gate and Tenten use the Flying Thunder God while flying. The chapter left them baffled about how Tenten had learned the S-rank technique, which Hiruzen denied teaching her.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane watched Neji Hyuga withstand Might Guy’s Seventh Gate and worried over Neji’s strength.
• Danzo Shimura concluded that Neji Hyuga seemed impossible to kill and decided against attacking him.
• Homura Mitokado asked whether Neji Hyuga had used Steel Release, but Koharu Utatane pointed out that Tenten had used the Flying Thunder God and stood in the air.
• Koharu Utatane asked whether Hiruzen Sarutobi had taught Tenten the Flying Thunder God and how she could fly.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi said he had not taught Tenten and did not know how she had learned the technique.

Hiruzen Sarutobi told Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane that Neji Hyuga had taught Tenten the Flying Thunder God and Skywalking Technique, leaving them alarmed by Neji’s power. Danzo Shimura left before Neji arrived, and Hiruzen suspected that Neji had beaten him in the past.

• Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane questioned Hiruzen Sarutobi about how Tenten had learned the Flying Thunder God.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi said Neji Hyuga had taught Tenten the Flying Thunder God and Skywalking Technique, stunning Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi sent an Anbu to summon Neji Hyuga and Might Guy to the Hokage's Office.
• Danzo Shimura declared that confronting Neji was meaningless and left the Hokage's Office, privately recalling Neji's past attack on him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi wondered whether Neji had beaten Danzo before.

Neji Hyuga deflected Hiruzen Sarutobi and the advisors’ attempts to claim his techniques and Flesh-Repair Pill formula, then warned that removing the Caged Bird Seal could change the Hyuga Clan’s relationship with Konoha. He left the Hokage’s Office with Might Guy and agreed to repay the damage to Training Ground Seven through missions alongside him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane tried to persuade Neji Hyuga to give Konoha his Iron Body technique and Flesh-Repair Pill formula, but he rejected their appeals and demands.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the advisors questioned Tenten about the Flying Thunder God and proposed bringing her into the Anbu, but Neji said he had researched the technique himself and would not let anyone force her.
• Neji revealed that he had researched a way to remove the Caged Bird Seal, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to soften his stance and urge Neji to keep the Hyuga Clan loyal to Konoha.
• Neji left the Hokage’s Office, where Might Guy offered to pay the twelve million ryo in repairs for Training Ground Seven, and Neji proposed that they each repay three million through missions.
• Neji and Might Guy went to meet Tenten and Rock Lee at the entrance of the building.

Neji Hyuga considered recruiting Orochimaru as a researcher and revealed that he had developed a way to remove or transform the Hyuga Clan’s Caged Bird Seal. He gave Takashi Hyuga a scroll containing the methods, leaving the choice to each clan member.

• Kabuto Yakushi, disguised as an Anbu ninja, bought Flesh-Repair Pills from Moo Moo and left the courtyard.
• Neji Hyuga considered bringing Orochimaru under his command as a researcher, potentially after Orochimaru killed Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Neji Hyuga summoned Takashi Hyuga and gave him a sealing scroll containing a method to remove the Caged Bird Seal.
• Takashi Hyuga broke down in tears of gratitude as Neji explained that clan members could either erase the seal or change it into a protective, strengthening Triple-Enhancement Byakugan Seal.

After a month rebuilding Training Ground Seven, Team 3 left Konoha on its first C-rank mission, a job to deal with bandits in the Land of Fire. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hiashi Hyuga worried about Neji Hyuga’s ability to remove the Caged Bird Seal and the possibility that he might lead the Hyuga Clan away.

• Tenten realized that ninja could complete ordinary workers’ jobs so quickly that they threatened their livelihoods, so she and Neji Hyuga slowed their work on Training Ground Seven.
• Might Guy reported the training ground nearly finished and accepted a C-rank mission to deal with a bandit gang in the Land of Fire.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Hiashi Hyuga that Neji Hyuga could remove the Caged Bird Seal, and Hiashi left the response to Hiruzen’s arrangements.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Team 3 its mission but worried Neji Hyuga might contact outside forces and take the Hyuga Clan from Konoha.
• Might Guy led Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee out of Konoha to begin the mission.

Team 3 completed a C-rank mission to eliminate bandits, with Neji Hyuga guiding Tenten and Rock Lee through their first killings by letting them witness the bandits abusing captured villagers. After the villagers thanked them, Might Guy suggested the team take the Chunin Exams, but Neji chose to train them for another year.

• Might Guy warned Team 3 that they needed to prepare themselves for killing, while Tenten and Rock Lee affirmed they were ready.
• Neji Hyuga and Might Guy agreed to wait until night so Tenten and Rock Lee could see the bandits' actions before attacking.
• Neji became captain and had Tenten and Rock Lee scout the hideout and count the bandits.
• After the bandits abused and assaulted captured villagers, Neji ordered Tenten and Rock Lee to storm the hideout, kill the bandits, and rescue the villagers.
• The villagers thanked Tenten and Rock Lee, and Might Guy proposed the Chunin Exams; Neji decided to train them for another year first.

A year of missions and training left Team 3 ready to enter the Chunin Exams, while Tenten grew more independent and influential under Neji Hyuga's guidance. Hiruzen Sarutobi approved their application, anxious about Neji's influence over the Hyuga Clan and hoping to keep him tied to Konoha.

• Neji Hyuga trained Team 3 for a year, and Tenten's encounters with hardship among the Land of Fire's common people strengthened her desire to change the world.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi repeatedly considered promoting Neji Hyuga and Tenten, but Neji advised that Tenten and Rock Lee needed more experience before taking the Chunin Exams.
• Hiashi Hyuga confirmed to Hiruzen Sarutobi that the Caged Bird Seal no longer controlled more than half of the Hyuga Branch Family, who had become Neji Hyuga's followers.
• Might Guy submitted Team 3's application for the Chunin Exams, explaining that Neji had wanted Tenten and Rock Lee to gain a year of experience first.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi approved the application and resolved to advance Neji through the ranks and give him a position in Konoha.

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee enjoyed a day off on the snack street until they encountered a dispute involving Kankuro and the younger Konoha ninja. Rock Lee rushed to defend them, but Tenten angrily stopped him over spilled food and led her teammates away.

• Tenten bought a large assortment of snacks and made Rock Lee carry them while she and Neji sampled the food.
• Tenten told Neji she had thrown out his damaged clothes and planned to order him new clothes suitable for the Chunin Exams.
• The trio encountered Kankuro confronting Naruto, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and the others, and Rock Lee mistook the argument for bullying.
• Rock Lee moved too fast for Kankuro to react and threatened him while crouching on his hand.
• Tenten struck Rock Lee for spilling ketchup on the fish balls, then threw a bamboo skewer that blasted a hole in the wall.
• Tenten apologized to the group and left the alley with Rock Lee and Neji.

Neji Hyuga entered the Chunin Exams’ Death Forest with Tenten and Rock Lee, arranging to cooperate with Team 7 so he could draw out Orochimaru. After Sasuke Uchiha confronted the disguised Orochimaru, Neji arrived as Orochimaru revealed his interest in Sasuke.

• Naruto Uzumaki’s resolve helped the remaining candidates pass Ibiki Morino’s written exam, and Anko Mitarashi began the scroll-gathering test in the Death Forest.
• Neji Hyuga proposed that his team cooperate with Team 7, hoping to meet Orochimaru, and Orochimaru noticed him after collecting his scroll.
• The teams entered the forest, where Sasuke Uchiha warned Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno not to trust anyone.
• Neji Hyuga told Tenten and Rock Lee that someone was targeting Team 7, and the two discussed Rock Lee’s feelings for Sakura Haruno while defeating two ambushing teams.
• Neji Hyuga reached Sasuke Uchiha as Orochimaru broke free from Sasuke’s attack, revealed his Hidden Sound Village forehead protector, and expressed his desire to have Sasuke.

Neji Hyuga confronted Orochimaru during the Chunin Exams and invited him to return to Konoha to research Chakra. Orochimaru escaped after Anko Mitarashi attacked, while Neji declared that he would become Hokage and told Orochimaru he would be waiting for him.

• Neji Hyuga sent Tenten and Rock Lee to collect the other teams' Earth Scrolls while he stayed with Orochimaru, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.
• Orochimaru marked Sasuke Uchiha with a cursed seal, and Neji Hyuga criticized the seal as a crude imitation of Nature Energy.
• Neji Hyuga invited Orochimaru to return to Konoha and help him research Chakra, then fought off Orochimaru's snakes and endured or evaded his Ninjutsu.
• Neji Hyuga told Orochimaru he would become Konoha's Hokage, and Orochimaru challenged him to prove he could take the seat.
• Anko Mitarashi attacked Orochimaru, who escaped using an Earth Release: Earth Clone and said he would be waiting for Neji Hyuga.